“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

These directions are not forced upon action by any laws. They are merely the resultant patterns with which energy expresses itself. You are only familiar as a rule with this impetus, or these directions, in rather shallow manners, for the ego prefers not to perceive them. These motions are merely the flow which action takes. What you term negative suggestions are usually impeding actions, or directions of action which impede the main directive inner flow. They operate then in much the same manner as crosscurrents, setting up blockages, and impeding main energies by dividing them in several diverse directions.

The personality itself, as you know, is a gestalt of action, and as such it is necessary that the flow of action within it follow the overall directives of the entity and the inner self. When for example the ego is allowed to apply too tightly and too rigorously its inhibitory functions, then this freedom of action within the personality is seriously divided and impeded.

We will discuss what you call suggestion in more practical terms, for your particular uses. Nevertheless it is necessary that its basic nature be understood. The ego simply cannot judge, as a rule, whether an action is a constructive or an impeding one, for the personality as a whole.

It can judge whether an action is a constructive or an impeding one for itself. Upon many occasions the purposes of the ego coincide with the purposes of the whole personality, but upon many occasions the purposes of the ego do not coincide with the best purposes of the whole personality. And in such cases the ego is not equipped to judge, except for itself.

It can however be taught a very valuable function here. The first prerequisite is that the ego understand both the nature of its dependence upon the whole personality, and the nature of its peculiar directive abilities in relation with the physical universe. When there is good communication between all areas of the self, and this is a big when, then the judgment of the ego can be trusted to some greater extent.

Suggestions given by an individual on any kind of a conscious basis have to be given with the cooperation of the ego. Many suggestions bypass the ego entirely. Suggestion however, as you think of it, operates both ways. This is not usually understood. Suggestions may come therefore from the physical world, to act upon the personality. Suggestions may also come from within the personality to act upon the physical environment.

We are dealing here, again, merely with the various aspects of action. As a personality itself is an action gestalt, within the inner self there is a capsule comprehension of the purposes and intents of the whole personality. These are indeed within the very structure, both psychic and physical, of the personality itself. The ego, on its own as a separate unit, does not have such data, although since it is after all a portion of the whole self, it does have such information available. But when it acts as a unit it does not use such information.

The information is not closed to it. It simply does not use it, and there are several quite sufficient reasons for this, reasons that have to do with the necessary apart manner in which the ego, when it operates as a separate unit, views the physical universe.

When the personality is well integrated, then even when it operates as a separate unit the ego still fulfills the basic purposes of the personality as a whole. It is the communication between the very areas of the self which is so important here, as in many other matters. It is possible for the ego to realize its position as but one part of the whole personality, while it still behaves in a directive manner toward physical manipulation.

This is the ideal circumstance, for when this is the case then the ego listens to the inner self, and then directs its energy outward in a way that is beneficial for the whole gestalt framework. What you call negative suggestions are often judgments of the ego, for suggestion works from the ego to the subconscious, as well as it works the other way around. Such suggestions made by the ego can indeed be caught, and positive or constructive suggestions given to replace them.